Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest

To date there have been four Israeli victories in the contest. Izhar Cohen and Alphabeta won in Paris in 1978 with "A-Ba-Ni-Bi". On home ground in Jerusalem the following year, Israel won again, this time with "Hallelujah" performed by Milk and Honey. Unusually, Israel did not defend the title in 1980[1] (see below). The third victory came almost 20 years later in Birmingham in 1998, when Dana International took top honours with the song "Diva", setting off widespread celebrations in Israel. It took another 20-year wait for Israel to record their fourth victory at the 2018 contest in Lisbon, with the song "Toy" by Netta, earning Israel their highest-ever score of 529 points.

Israel's earliest selections were picked by the Israel Broadcasting Authority (IBA). The first singer to represent the country was Ilanit, who finished 4th in 1973. In 1972, while Ilanit was in Germany recording as part of the duo Ilan and Ilanit with her partner Shlomo Tzach, the duo received an offer to represent Germany in that year's Eurovision Song Contest. While considering the proposal, the duo noticed that Israel was eligible to participate and approached the IBA with a proposal that Ilanit would represent Israel. However, by the time the IBA contacted the EBU, the registration period was over and instead Ilanit was promised to represent Israel in 1973.[2][3] Criticism increased after she was sent again four years later, leading to a rule that the winner of the already established Hebrew Song and Chorus Festival would also represent Israel at the contest. The 1978 and 1979 Israeli Eurovision winners were selected by this method. From 1981, the selection process took place via the Kdam Eurovision with the exceptions of 1990, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002–2004, 2006–2007 and 2010 where the IBA selected their representatives internally.

After winning the contest in 1978 and 1979, the IBA was financially and logistically unable to organise the event for the second consecutive year, resulting in the Netherlands stepping up to host the 1980 contest in their place. The date chosen for that year's contest coincided with Yom HaZikaron, the Israeli Memorial Day, and the country was thus forced to withdraw. This made Israel the only country to date unable to defend its title. The 1980 Hebrew Song and Chorus Festival therefore did not double as a national final that year unlike the last two years, and the winning song "Pizmon Chozer" by the band The Brothers & the Sisters was never given the chance to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest. In 1984, Israel once again refrained from participating due to the same date conflict.

Apart from its victories, Israel's entries have had a mixed reception at the contest. Avi Toledano (1982) and Ofra Haza (1983) scored well with big revivalist numbers, but the all-singing, all-dancing style became less popular later in the decade and Israel's 1986 entry, "Yavo Yom" by Moti Giladi and Sarai Tzuriel, came in 19th, the country's worst showing yet at the time.

In 1987, Israel finished 8th with "Shir Habatlanim" by the satiric duo Lazy Bums. Due to its satirical nature, it prompted then-Israeli Minister of Culture, Yitzhak Navon, to threaten to resign if the song went on to represent Israel at the contest; this ultimately did not occur.

In 1990, Rita's sensuous ballad "Shara Barkhovot" was not well received, but in 1991, Orna and Moshe Datz finished third, Israel's best result since 1983. Israel also had a 5th-place finish by Eden when it hosted the 1999 contest. Ping-Pong's disco effort in 2000 failed, though the group was noted for their largely optimistic lyrics and message of reconciliation and peace in Western Asia. They went as far as waving Syrian flags at the end of their performance, angering some Israelis.

In 2004, David D'Or came 11th in the semi-final with the song "Leha'amin", leaving Israel out of the final for the first time since 1997. Shiri Maimon with "HaSheket SheNish'ar" in 2005 brought Israel back to the top five, and ensured Israel a place in the 2006 final, where it was represented by singer Eddie Butler, who had finished 5th as part of Eden in 1999; however, his performance of the song "Together We Are One" finished 23rd, with only four points.

IBA's Eurovision committee chose the band Teapacks to represent Israel in the 2007 contest. Their humorous entry "Push the Button" did not fare well, finishing in 24th place out of a semi-final field of 28 and failing to reach the final. Israel thus had to compete in the semi-final in 2008, from which it passed on to the final, with Boaz and "The Fire in Your Eyes" finishing ninth there. In 2009, an Arab citizen of Israel represented the country for the first time, as Mira Awad performed "There Must Be Another Way" alongside Jewish-Israeli singer Noa in Moscow. Israel was represented in 2010 by Harel Skaat, who came 14th in the final with "Milim".

Israel's participations from 2011 to 2014 were less successful, as former Eurovision winner Dana International in Düsseldorf, the band Izabo in Baku, Moran Mazor in Malmö and Mei Finegold in Copenhagen, all failed to qualify for the final. In 2015, Nadav Guedj brought Israel back to the final with "Golden Boy", the first Israeli entry without a Hebrew lyric. Prior to their fourth win, they also managed to qualify in 2016 with Hovi Star and "Made of Stars" (which finished 14th) and in 2017 with Imri Ziv and "I Feel Alive" (which finished 23rd, Israel's lowest placing in a Eurovision final since 2006). In 2019 as host country with Kobi Marimi and his song "Home", Israel was pre-qualified for the final, however, they eventually finished in 23rd place, making it the fourth time since 2015 that the host country ranked in the bottom five.

In early 2020, it was announced that the 2020 season of HaKokhav HaBa would be the last time it would be used to select the Israeli entrant, with a separate national final to select the winning artist's Eurovision entry. Eden Alene, selected via HaKokhav HaBa in 2020 – with the entry "Feker Libi" chosen via a separate national final – was selected to represent Israel again in 2021 following the cancellation of the 2020 contest, and a new national final was held to select her entry for 2021, which was later revealed to be "Set Me Free". The song went on to finish in 17th place in the final, and notably includes a B6 whistle note, the highest note in the history of the contest.

For the 2022 contest, the fourth season of The X Factor Israel was used to determine the 2022 entry, later revealed to be Michael Ben David with "I.M".[4] The song failed to qualify for the final, marking the first time that Israel missed out on a final since 2014. For the 2023 contest, an internal selection was used to determine the entry, later revealed to be Noa Kirel with "Unicorn".[5] Kirel finished in third place, the country's best result since its 2018 win.

Until 2018, Israel only had a television commentator once, in 1979. In most cases, they opted instead to simply broadcast the transmission without commentary and with Hebrew subtitles. Beginning in 2013 and lasting until 2017, they also aired the contest with Arabic subtitles on IBA Channel 33. 1980 was the only year that was not broadcast either on television or radio due to Yom HaZikaron; in both 1984 and 1997, which Israel also had to miss due to the holiday, the IBA aired the show on delay, and there was no radio broadcast. They also typically provided radio commentary beginning in the early '80s, unless they weren't participating that year (excepting 2000). They had no commentary of either sort until 2013, when they resumed radio broadcasting, and 2018, when they had their first television commentators since 1979. The Israeli transmission was also shown worldwide via the Israeli Network between 2003 and 2004.[12]